I have come to accept it, and I’m sure there are people out there refusing to talk about it. Especially since last year it became a $1 billion industry, and could be worth $2.38 billion by the time 2019 hits. But while the influencer industry looks promising, there are some truths we need to acknowledge for it to remain so.

Think of how much money companies can save now by advertising with independent influencers. Their cost for running ads with services before the time of influencers included magazines, celebrities, commercials, billboards, street signs, etc. Influencers now offer not only more content than brands ever had a need for before, but a new, more intuitive kind of promotion. Less broad, and more acute/niche specific.

Here’s why I predict what is happening right now in the industry is going to cause it to crumble…

With the massive influx of influencers popping up every day, it greatly affects the industry in negative ways. Here are a few of the main problems:

1. More influencers equals more competition. (I suppose we saw this coming…) It’s harder for influencers to be found, or stand out from others just like them. What can one offer that the thousands of others don’t? Why should a company choose to work with them over the others? Countless look-a-like bloggers are literally clogging the pipes here, making the stream of work pretty stagnant for mostly everyone.

2. More NEW influencers mean more opportunities for brands to get free advertising. Why would a company pay thousands of dollars to one influencer, when they can just send free product to 20 small/new influencers who’s followings would add up to the same number as one big influencer? And the only cost to the brand? Probably less than $500 in cost it took to make their product (depending on what brand and the value of their products). But most brands probably spend on average about $13 in production per product. $13 x 20 influencers = $260. Add in shipping and packaging. This is still nothing compared to what influencers of 100k+ should be making per post. The brand’s goal is to not spend money, and smaller/new influencers are enabling this.

3. Bigger influencers are losing job opportunities. This is leaving brands expecting free work from everyone, because they can get it easily from small influencers. Now, everyone had to start by working for free, so it’s not really the influencer’s fault. But if the bigger influencers start having to leave the industry, only small bloggers will be left… sounds like a good thing for the small bloggers? Well not really when they’re stuck with brands that will only expect free work. Because now the system is broken.

I don’t know about you, but when I got going (even part-time) with this work, I had to start charging. Because of the amount of time and work and money it took to create content daily. That is all of value, and brands know this. (Heck, otherwise they’d be doing it all their self!) Which is why they are all the more keen to convince you otherwise. Why pay when they can get everything free?

Please listen up. You are only helping to promote them so they can make sales, so why shouldn’t the influencer be making money too? You have to realize, if they are trying to collaborate with you, it’s because they can benefit from you. So… what is actually fair for both parties? It certainly shouldn’t be one-sided. Even if you aren’t offering a huge audience, you must be offering quality content! Do you know what your value is?

If the big influencers start to bail, and only small influencers are left, how long will they want to keep working for free in this broken system? We all know they got into this line of work for the hope of success, for the promise of good income and rare opportunities. But when those things aren’t given, what then?

No one can keep working for free for long, even I’ve hit my wall. And yet the brands keep refusing to pay. Soon it will be no good for anyone. (Save for the minority of those who have “made it” and don’t have to worry about their jobs surviving.)

This is when it’ll all come crumbling down. And when the influencer market is dead, how will the brands find their audiences and potential sales now? Especially new brands who’ve started up at the gleaming prospect of success thanks to Instagram marketing? It’ll not only cause a loss of jobs for these influencers, but also for many independent brands and designers. People who might not have even started their brand if not for seeing the potential in influencer marketing. Could these brands even survive if they weren’t piggy-backing off the content and exposure of social media public figures? Think of all the money being saved in photography & model fees, location/destination shoots, ads, etc!

The truth of the matter is maybe these small/new brands actually can’t afford to pay influencers. Which means they couldn’t afford to pay for advertising either. They only started their brand at the prospect of free advertising. But if influencers went away, where would they be? Should they have even started their business in the first place, if they can’t/won’t pay for advertising? Were their intentions corrupt, greedy, or just naive from the onset?

So what can be done about this? How can we stop the seemingly unavoidable crash of a once (though sort of short-lived) promising industry?

Again, not all fault lies with the influencers, though both parties need to get educated and wisen up. But I think what is important is that brands need to contribute to the industry, not just take, if they want it to be around to benefit their companies in the future.

Like the Newspaper industry that is failing. Most people can and now expect to get their news for free. And the longer people get something for free, the less willing they are to pay for it. Hence why local newspapers are the first to be shut down, and many employees laid off for their paper not meeting profit margins.

It’s not that people may not pay for local news, it’s that local papers have declined in quality at the greed of their owners. The greed of the owners being their need to make higher profits to maintain their lifestyle, at the expense of the employees wages. Jobs are cut to maintain this.

Does this sound at all similar? Brands expecting to pay nothing, and greedily make their profits while offering little to nothing to the influencers. They have already started cutting out paying influencers (like cutting jobs of talented journalists) and lower the overall quality of the industry, by only inflating the part of it that encourages influencers to work for free. And there can and never will be lasting quality of work with no pay.

So, I’m scared for this industry, and I think it smart to take this food for thought as a strong warning. To influencers, brands, companies, and agencies alike. Something has to change, and NOW, if we are to prevent this shining star from burning fast and burning out.

And… to those of us influencers… as the saying goes: one should never put all their eggs in one basket. Who knows how stable that basket really is.

As an insider in this industry, I have an on-going discussion about the issues I’m coming up against. I’m sure you relate!
Read “Vanity, Negativity, & Imitation: The ‘Art’ of Instagram” for more!

The post IG Influencers: A Bubble Soon to Pop appeared first on Jetset Lust.

On the night of January 23rd, I had just about had enough of the struggle I’ve been experiencing on Instagram. I decided the ridiculous way my account was behaving couldn’t be due to something I was doing wrong. I have spent enough time questioning my content and my self, and spending countless hour on the app to engage with users to keep up my engagement, only to see literally next to nothing in return. With all the strange penalizing happening to mine and other accounts I knew, like being shadow banned and not showing up in hashtags, I started writing a Letter to Instagram to submit through their “Something Isn’t Working” Form on the app.

About 20 minutes later, after a list of issues turned into a rant to Instagram about just how much they are ruining this community, I frustratedly shared the Letter on my Stories and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up with maybe 15 DM’s from people who were sharing my Letter, responding with shock that they weren’t the only one going through this, and the discussion began. I started sharing these crazy messages on my Stories because I realized we were all suffering in silence, thinking we were just doing something wrong, our account was broken, or Instagram was punishing us for some reason. But the truth is, there is something happening with the algorithm that is causing major trouble for ALL our accounts! The only ones who are safe, seem to be the huge “elite” celebs and bloggers that IG has protected from their algorithm and deemed “safe” from their penalizing bans.

Through maybe 100 DM’s I’ve been trying to keep up with day and night since posting my Letter, I’ve been able to put together a pretty complete picture of what’s actually happening to us, and it’s not pretty.

From accounts losing massive amounts of followers, projected growth for the year being in the negative thousands, being blocked from writing captions, being shadow banned, being restricted to following 1-2 people a day, or only certain accounts, forced unfollows of people you still want to follow, the following counter being “Stuck” at a certain number for months, though you see followers come in daily, engagement being cut in half or more, paid IG ads not bringing in any clicks or views but they take our money anyway, our posts not being shown to our followers for maybe up to a week later, and never seeing posts from people we used to loyally follow. And there’s still so much more!

If this were a service company, they’d be sued… BIG time.

The good news? You’re not alone if you’ve been dealing with these issues. The bad news? Instagram doesn’t seem to care about us or completely manipulating us to use their app longer in order to make money off us. How can they be getting away with this?

“It’s common knowledge in the industry that Instagram exploits this craving [for notifications and positive feedback] by strategically withholding likes from certain users. If the photo-sharing app decides you need to use the service more often, it’ll show only a fraction of the likes you’ve received on a given post at first, hoping you’ll be disappointed in your haul and check back again in. a minute or two. They’re tying into your greatest insecurities.” – Matt Maybury, Dopamine Labs via The Globe and Mail

If Instagram knowingly withholds likes, and bans certain actions of “spammy” accounts, what would stop them from using these “powers” to completely control any or all users on the app?! What would keep them from deciding normal people are too spammy to get normal rights to engage on the app? What keeps them from controlling the number of your following so it seems as if you’re not growing, and you’re not successful?

This is the reason I believe it’s time to speak out. So many of you had no idea this was happening to everyone, and now you can share the info to make more people aware! The more who learn about this, and the more people who speak up, Instagram will have to hear us. Our best tactic is to keep the fire burning and tell our friends, tell fellow IGers, and use the hashtag to become viral on Instagram. Another great idea submitted by someone who joined the discussion, is to leave a 1 star honest review on the Instagram App, in the App Store!

As I learn more information, I’ll update the blog with new posts! And share tips on what I find works best to keep up engagement and growth during these tough times!

Join the Movement – BE the Change!

1. Tell your friends
2. Use the #TakeBackInstagram
3. Help take back control of exposure- join #FollowFriday every week on IG Stories!
4. Post the flyers below or make your own!
5. Leave an honest 1 star review on the Instagram App!
6. Pin one a flyer to Pinterest to help spread the word!

You don’t have to tag me, but I would love to be tagged so I can see how many of you are joining in, and get to thank you! When we stick together, we make an amazing team!

Flyer for IG Stories:

Flyer for IG Feed Crop:

SaveSave

The post #TakeBackInstagram is Born appeared first on Jetset Lust.

When I was a beginner photographer, I would look at photographers I followed and wonder why, even with all the editing possible, I couldn’t get my photos to look like the ones I was trying to mimic. From colors, to vibe, to quality… I had high expectations but couldn’t execute. Sometimes all the vision and inspiration in the world won’t lead to the outcome you are aiming for. All artists require learning the necessary skills to bring their vision to life. And there was one day when it finally clicked, and I was able to take my work to that level I was striving for. This is also a big factor when creating content for your blog or Instagram!

So what’s the secret to getting the outcome you want with your photography? People always ask me, “how do you get ‘the look’?”

It comes down to three factors: Color Scheme, Light, and Theme.

This is the line I drilled into my head, and I always tell beginners:

“Shoot the colors you want to see in the photo.”

It sounds so simple, but sometimes beginners don’t realize that it’s more than just “pointing and shooting” the camera to get the shot. Or showing up in an outfit with a photographer. Especially when it comes to these three things! With coordination, pre-planning, and styling, you can get “the look” by yourself, or with the help of a photographer.

Read More to learn the importance of each of these factors, when it comes to making your vision a reality…

Color Scheme

One does not simply “take a great photo…”

Okay, so the first step to planning your photo is the color scheme. Ask yourself 1. What colors am I envisioning in this photo? 2. Will this match my IG feed color scheme? And if not, will editing make it match? 3. What do I need (clothing, props, location aspects) to get these colors?

Often times when I was a beginner, I would shoot in any type of location, not thinking about what colors I’d get out of that. For example, I wanted bright and faded pastels, but I shot in a brown dress under a dark tree. This situation was not going to give me the results I needed for the vision I had. Instead, I should have looked for a location that provided the pastel colors, or enough of a blank canvas to edit in some pastel tones- anything light like white, beige, and even light grey could be edited in post to contribute to the faded pastel look.

Styling is very important to take into account for keeping the colors consistent with your scheme. If I’m wearing bold and vivid colors, it might not allow me to get the faded pastel look. And one wouldn’t want to shoot, for example, against a dark wall if they want their photo to be bright pastel!

These things may seem unimportant, but planning out your colors for every aspect of the photoshoot will really be the bases for getting the look you want.

What also contributes to the coloring of a photo, and the overall vibe, is one of the most important aspects: LIGHT!

Light

The lighting conditions, weather, time of day, and direction of light play a huge roll in the photo making process. If I’m always aiming for bright and soft photos for my feed, I probably will avoid dark and gloomy days, harsh light that makes for super contrasting photos, or late evenings when it’s too dark and the shadows in my photos will be very black.

Pay attention to direction of light, and direction you are shooting. If you shoot into the light (with the sun behind your subject) you will fill your lens with light and the sky will be white, and you’ll get a golden glow. Especially at golden hour. This works for filling your photo with a lot of white space, if that’s what you require for your feed. Shooting away from the sun, the same direction is it shining, you will end up with very harsh light and contrast. The sky will most likely appear blue, depending on the weather and your lens. Shooting with the light hitting one side of your subject will create lots of contrast and a lot of shadow. Again, if you’re going for a pastel soft look, these stark shadows will not contribute to a soft looking photo. You can play with light and direction until you get the look you want!

To improve your lighting, having a reflector can save your butt- especially if you just need to capture the shot and can’t be too picky about the light. You can fill in the shadows by bouncing light into the shadowed side of the subject. This will make for a pretty bright and crisp photo.

I tend to shoot in the afternoons, as that lighting is softer and also goes along with the overall vibe I like to convey in my photos. Sunny days are my preference, but I’ll shoot on overcast days as well, which provides a soft light with mostly no shadows. Though to me, this lighting can feel flat and sometimes boring!

As you gain experience with shooting in all types of situations and master your editing, you may be able to pull what you want even from the most difficult scenarios. But knowing your best shooting situations is key to getting your outcome, and sticking to them will get you a consistent look throughout all your shoots.

Theme

Theme includes everything from styling to location, and the overall story you’re trying to tell.

As you might know, I’ve been keeping to a strict Parisian theme on my Instagram feed. Not only do I have lots of content I shot in Paris, but I want all my other non-Paris photos to fit in seamlessly. This means my styling usually has a Parisian flair, my props will convey an aspect I love from Paris, and my locations (which can be the most difficult) should have a European theme. I look for buildings and architecture that have European elements to use as my backdrop.

I might include a prop, like a baguette, that introduces an “experiential”  element to the photo. That helps conveys a Parisian theme and tells a story. This is especially handy when doing flat lays or product photos.

Some examples-

If my theme is moody, I’ll maybe work with a darker color scheme and moodier lighting. Or plan to shoot for black and white photos. If my theme is luxury, I’ll introduce a lot of white space and luxe texture like marble-paying attention to things like the type of furniture and fabrics appearing in the photo. Interiors are always fun to style, and you can do a lot to portray a theme by planning your locations and props around it.

Keeping a theme consistent throughout your Instagram Feed helps to tell a more complete story, and if you’re depicting scenes from your life, you can really allow your followers to get to know you! Your aesthetic conveys your style, just as much as the photos.

From one day to another, each will bring it’s own unique situations for shooting. But if you always stick to the color, lighting, and theme that you decide on, you can always bring your vision to life! It’ll take practice, but you should enjoy the journey and watch yourself grow as a creator!

The post Blogging 101: How to get “The Look” appeared first on Jetset Lust.

Flat Lays are sort of the bread and butter content for bloggers. Its our way of making a boring product photo feel relatable and less commercial. When you have to shoot as many products as us, it’s one of the go-to options for churning out content quickly and breaking up the monotonous model photos on our feed. If you’re like I used to be, you probably find flat lays a struggle to shoot. Some people have a natural knack for composition, but even with that, I found it hard to get outside my OCD to sort of “toss” products and props down to look like an effortless flat lay. I used to have to map out flat lays I liked and study the composition to learn how to set up the perfect flat lay. Then one time I had to spend a few days shooting lots of flat lays, and it really clicked with me when I let go and got creative with it. Through that I realized what I was doing differently that made the shots looks so much more professional, and here is what I’m now sharing with you!

Read more to get all the BEST tips, first hand from moi, for mastering the Flat Lay! I promise these will give you a breakthrough for shooting these tricky photos!

Mastering the Flat Lay

• Create length: spread the products vertically or diagonally across the frame, don’t let it feel circular or square. You want it to feel more real life and candid, and who throws their things down to fit a “square” frame?? You want to lead the viewer’s eye across the frame, preferably to the primary product. Use your backdrop as “white space”, giving some breathing room somewhere in the frame. The white space doesn’t have to be white, and it doesn’t have to be between the products, it could just be in one or two of the corners of the frame.
•  Layer the products: Start with the surface you want as your “background”, whether it’s wood floor or table, marble countertop, paper backdrop, a blanket, or sand on the beach. Then put your biggest, flattest item down first and layer things in from there. Experiment with laying object down in different spots, or sliding them in between things. Be sure to make your focal piece primary within the composition.
• Props: It’s good to collect props and objects you can continually use to make consistent Flat Lays (especially if you’re trying to match an Instagram feed color scheme)! I typically use a white sheet, and like to include vintage cameras, polaroids from my trip, gold jewelry, and something alive. Wether it’s plants or flowers, something edible, or even just shadows from palm leaves, this gives your Flat Lay its own life, creating a little world.
• Utilize light: Take it outside or next to a window to give it real life light. I like to take my flat lays outside under early afternoon sun, sometimes with a light diffuser to soften the shadows and highlights, or with a reflector to fill light in the shadows and get a more well lit scene. I especially love playing with light refractions, reflected off shiny objects or through crystal cups, etc.
• Utilize Texture & Color: Use props that present texture one associates with, like “quality, luxury, or cozy”. Such as gold, fur, knit, and marble. For consistency, it helps to repeat colors-whether over a spread of multiple flat lays, or inside one flat lay. Be sure to balance the objects of matching color in your composition. You can play with putting more of your color heavy on one side of the frame, or evenly throughout.
• Create depth- Include 2D & 3D objects to make a more dynamic photo, such as layering flat magazines, trays, or polaroids, with tall bottles, glasses of wine, or a bouquet. And include items in between their depth like a film camera or perfume bottle.
• Play with perspective- rotate your camera and capture many angles, allow some items to touch the edge of the frame or be slightly cropped out. You can also play with items in the foreground, like a tall flower in a vase becoming a blurred object close to the lens.
• Don’t forget your horizon: If you rotate and tilt your camera perspective too much, you might end up with your focal product feeling more “up-side-down”, which creates an uneasy feeling. You want it to feel real life and candid, despite the amount of work and styling, so keep your horizon line/vantage point within what feels like a normal view point. You can shoot from straight above, or get some lower viewpoint angles that feel more experiential for the viewer.
• Brand Name: If the brand name on a product is supposed to be visible, make sure it’s in crisp focus, and be sure not to let it get blown out by any harsh light! Nothing is more disappointing than doing all the work only to find out when seeing the image big on your computer screen that the tiny label was out of focus for everything. Be sure your F-stop is set to a high enough number that your flatly and label are both in focus.
• Select the best image: I find it hard sometimes to narrow it down to the best image. Think ahead of your Instagram crop (even when shooting). I find it easier to see what image my eye naturally goes to when I zoom out and view all the top image selects as smaller thumbnails. It’s similar to how you see them on an Instagram profile, so you can decide what composition looks the most aesthetic this way.

So that’s all there is to it! I know it might be a bit to process, but the best way to improve is to start putting these lessons to practice!

The post Blogging 101: Mastering the Flat Lay appeared first on Jetset Lust.

This post was a long time coming, as I get SO many messages regarding this topic. So I finally sat down to organize my whole story into a blog post, to shed some light on my personal journey. This isn’t a guide to success, or a one size fits all story. But hopefully it will answer your questions, and give you some insight and inspiration on just what I did to become a full time blogger!

Read more to learn my story!

How I started Blogging

From the beginning, I’ve always had an online presence. I started on creative writing forums when I was 13, determined to become a book writer.  My online life continued to art sites, where I wrote poetry, prose and books, shared my digital art and drawings, and began experimenting with photography. I also had been teaching myself web design, coding, and graphics design since age 14.

Some of you might know I was a ballet dancer all my young life, from age 3 – 19. I quit before joining a professional company in NY because I realized I had too many passion to only spend my life in one genre of art. I took to my photography as the creative outlet I needed to replace the part of me that was always invested in dance. But this time, I had gained some popularity for my digital art and photography, winning some art awards and publishing some poetry books. I’ve sort of dabbled in most art forms, taking after my dad who is an abstract painter by profession, among other things.

From learning classical guitar to cinematography, film photography and art history, I’ve done the college thing (and it wasn’t my idea of a good use of time). After one year of college (I was able to skip the required classes as my dad was director of the art school), I “dropped out” because I already had an up and coming photography business going. I was shooting with wedding photographers and doing fashion, model portfolio work, and senior photos with my own company. It was my full time job, but that didn’t stop me from investing time into my creative outlets of writing and fashion photography.

I would discover new models and creative direct fashion campaigns and films, which led me to working with local boutiques and brands for Lookbooks and editorials. I did this for a few years, when I started to dabble in modeling the products myself. I started my blog Ready Gypset Go in 2013, as a first step into fashion blogging. At the time, it was the era where I think bloggers had the most luck, because it was all new and fun for brands to collaborate. My blog took off in only a couple years, getting roughly 30,000 followers and 18,000 blog views monthly. It was also the era of boho and that was my thing, so it worked.

Within a couple years, Josh and I took Ready Gypset Go to the next level by deciding to buy a vintage airstream and renovate it ourselves on a shoestring budget. We stayed in Ohio (where we started), for 6 months riding out winter and slowly fixing up the Airstream (named Flo). But it was taking too long and we needed to be on the road and exploring for the blog. So (after a few cross-country road trips in our jeep) we hitched up and hit the road. Everything went wrong. Our truck broke down several times, and the original vintage furniture in the Airstream fell apart from travel. We crash landed in Arizona where we thought we’d call home base. While there for almost a year, we finished almost the full renovation of Flo, and left our last remaining place to call home for full time life on the road. This was fall 2015, and I started the concept of Blogger Campaigns. I created a plan for a specific trip and vibe, and made it public for brands to buy in to. It was so successful that we made more in one month than ever before. It was enough to cover some time traveling and to finish up some more Airstream renovations. But it was a lot of Lookbooks and content to shoot, and I got deathly sick at one point and had to push through during horrible weather to finish the work on time.

We did the road trip life for about a year, hopping from place to place, gliding down the California coast from the PNW to SoCal. It was an amazing, life changing experience that taught me so much, and made me so strong. But that’s another story. We eventually settled down in SoCal to relax after being literally homeless for so long, and based ourselves there (yes, still living out of our cute little Airstream!). I worked on the blog full time, and also depended on my Closet Sales to get us through the slow months.

Around the time when Instagram was a plentiful source of work for me, they implemented the Algorithm. Life certainly changed at that point, as it did for so many others. What was a free space to share my work and creations, and reach my loyal audience I’d built over the years, I could focus solely on the creative aspect of shooting and connecting with brands. But it became a whole different beast. These days we all know the story, so I don’t need to delve into that. But it changed they way I worked, the way one could be a blogger, and they way one had to start blogging if they’re new. It was a huge setback and we had to learn much more than what we expected, and it’s become a full time job of its own just to manage the business aspect of running an IG account. It goes so much deeper than what one might assume from a surface level of seeing bloggers. Over the past couple years I’d also taken on various interns and an assistant, which helped greatly with the workload.

I don’t think there is a straight up answer for how to be successful in blogging. It’s more about who you are and what you’re doing, and doing it at the right time. And, of course, expanding your knowledge of the business side of it. It’s not just another hobby, it’s an actual job that people typically hire professionals with a background of knowledge for. What I’ve discovered is, if you want to play, you have to first know the rules of the game. You have to be a business professional, or learn to be one. It’s more work than play, and more stress than fun. I’m not going to give you some sort of illusion to believe in. Because I’m not rich, I don’t have it all figured out, and I still have a lot to learn.

I learned as I went, which everyone does to and extent, because I had to when it all changed. But in the beginning, I certainly did not know what all I’d be doing years down the road, to keep the dream alive. It’s kind of a marathon, and you have to have endurance for each challenge and hurdle that comes at you.

Thanks to my background in all things artsy and creative, and having taught myself necessary things at a super young age, I was lucky to be prepared to do what was needed to fill all the jobs. Along with my husband Josh, who handles shooting the photography and video with me, the tech and web development, and being my partner, we cover all the jobs.

So where am I at now?

It’s grown so much that we are at capacity, and will soon be taking on a team to allow the blog to keep growing, and so we can delegate some of the workload. What allows me to keep blogging full time is how I connect with brands weekly, and take on monthly sponsored work, from Instagram posts to blog posts, etc. We also make a good chunk of our income by taking on campaign work with brands. I take the role of creative director/stylist/model/editor, and Josh shoots the photography/videography for such brands national and international, which takes place every season throughout the fashion calendar. You can now see our campaign work in the Portfolio on the blog!

I hope this gave you a better idea of how my life went in this direction. I came from very little, being broke 99% of the time and having next to no clothes to style, to becoming fully stocked in free products to run the blog, to then developing and growing to where I make my living off my blog and Instagram. All it took was creativity, a developed set of skills, and good content that I put out there since the beginning. And tons of determination, and not listening to those people who didn’t believe in me.

And, if you are reading this now, you’ll see that our brand has gone through yet another rebirth as Jetset Lust! As I’ve grown and my style & life goals have changed, I never wanted any part of what I do to be kept from growing with me. Times change and one must evolve. The blog shed it’s boho niche this past year, and now we step away completely from what we branded as the “Gypset” road trip lifestyle, to a more world traveling jet-set life. A little more luxe, a little more cultured. The new name came to me one day and I knew it was the accurate title for our new chapter. Combining our wanderlust with the yearning to jet-set across the globe, we bring you Jetset Lust.

Follow our upcoming travels, and discover what we do and how we do it! You can subscribe to get updates directly to your inbox!

SaveSave

SaveSave

The post How I Started Blogging appeared first on Jetset Lust.

Welcome to a new series here on the blog, where I’ll be sharing advice and tips on how to conquer the blogging world. It’s not easy, and I remember the overwhelming feeling it gave me when I first started. Everyone could use some tips to learn more and grow, and I want to help you! So look forward to insights on everything Blogging; from how to start, photography & cameras, editing, planning your feed, choosing/working in a color scheme, writing good posts, curating quality content, reaching out to brands, media kits, collaborations, clients, staying organized, designing your blog, tackling Instagram, sponsored posts, and more.

Your blogging needs will all be satisfied! And if not, ask me your blog-related questions and I’ll answer them in my Blogging Q&A series!

Read on for the first steps to take when starting a blog…!

Blogging 101: First Steps

Lots of people ask me for advice on how to get started being a blogger/influencer. And though it’s equally as complicated as it is simple, I’ve come to the realization that before anyone starts a blog, here are the first things to consider:

1. What’s your niche?

• If you’re wanting to be an influencer, it’s because you have something to share with the world. You have a unique perspective, maybe even a rare one, and you’re 100% certain people will enjoy it. You need to decide on what niche your blog is going to be, and stick to it so Instagram and Google will be able to know how to categorize you. Therefore they will be able to show you to your target audience. Maybe it’s fashion, fitness, health, food, travel, photography, life hacks, model life, acting, music, writing, or etc. But you want to lock it down to one main niche before branching out into multiple niches. The more specific, the better. And your blog name/Instagram username & profile picture should reflect this!

2. Create your Quality Content

• This is equally important as choosing your niche. Everyone starts somewhere, and it may be that you are a novice at photography and/or editing. But you can find your strong suit (maybe it’s street photography, lifestyle, flat lays, or composition with architecture), and use that to your advantage. You want the highest quality imagery possible to represent your online identity. Even if you’re just starting with an iPhone, download some good editing and creative apps to make your content visually appealing. Study what other people do, and try to learn from them. (Be inspired, but for goodness sake, don’t be a copycat!) Start building up a cache of your content before you start posting, because to maintain a good account, you’ll want to post 1-3 times a day. And that content will go quickly! So plan ahead!

3. Color Scheme & Aesthetic 

• When planning your content and possible photoshoots, you’ll want to know what color scheme and feed aesthetic you’ll be working with. The best way to choose your color scheme is NOT to force your feed to be what it isn’t, but to find what colors and vibes you see the most around you, the ones that are part of your daily life. If you’re shooting indoors a lot, is the location warm and cozy? Then a cold pale feed probably isn’t going to be easy to achieve. If you’re shooting outdoors and you live in the concrete city, colorful tropical vibes probably aren’t going to work out. The most important rule to shooting aesthetic content, is shoot the colors you want to see in your photos. Then edit to make them even better!

4. Photography

• So maybe you aren’t able to shoot your own photos. This will make it tough to shoot that content you need to create every day, but you can always find a photographer. Either you will need to hire one and fit in a few different blog/IG posts per session, and shoot at least twice a week, or you may find someone who is willing to shoot with you for free. Just remember the above tips when shooting, and be sure to communicate your content needs to the photographer! You’ll want to try to break up your feed with different kinds of angles and compositions- some photos should have more white space, while others should be close ups. Keep in mind how many photos you want to get out of each shoot (like 10 good shots per outfit), and know how you can use them in your feed. Planning ahead is your best friend, from location to styling. And for planning your feed’s posts to be the most aesthetic, you’ll want to download a free or paid planning app for your phone!

5. Engage, engage, engage!

• So now that you’ve found your niche, built up a cache of content, and started posting, how do you grow your account & blog? There is no magic solution to success in blogging. You work your ass off, learn from experience, and get better as you grow. What everyone had to do in the beginning (and still should) is engage with other users! Search for people in your niche through hashtags, the explore page, and google. Follow them, leave comments, and comment something relatable on their blog with a link to your blog. The best you can hope for is that they are intrigued and return the likes/comments/follows. It’s going to take a lot of time, but if you’re diligent with it multiple times a day, you’ll start to see your following grow. The bigger it grows, the better your engagement will become, and the IG algorithm will start to show you to more people because you’re gaining traction. Of course, I’m going to be honest, this only works if you have the QUALITY CONTENT and that Je Ne Sais Quoi that sets you apart, and makes people want to follow you. Use your voice, use your life experience, and present your unique angle to the world.

I’ll be talking more about each of these topics individually in upcoming Blogging 101 posts, along with topics like creating a Media Kit, reaching out to brands, building your website, and more! So stay tuned, and be sure to subscribe to get updates directly to your inbox!

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

The post Blogging 101: First Steps appeared first on Jetset Lust.